


lay me down

by moonrivers



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 05:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14073909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonrivers/pseuds/moonrivers
Summary: Jaehyun has a nightmare.





	lay me down

They’re in Taiwan on a brisk winter night, having just wrapped up filming for a broadcast. Taeyong’s ears are still ringing from the screams of fans earlier on in the night, and he has too much adrenaline leftover in his system to sleep just yet.

He glances at the boy sleeping peacefully on the bed next to his, hugging the sheets the way Taeyong sees him do all the time when they room together overseas. Jaehyun went and knocked out almost as soon as they got back to the hotel, and while the younger would never admit that he was tired, Taeyong had noticed the dark circles under his eyes and his quiet demeanour.

Taeyong keeps the night light on as he mindlessly scrolls through his phone, doing something to pass the time. It’s quiet and calm, only the faint noise of cars and the city lights seeping through the curtains reminding him of the hustle and bustle of Taipei.

That’s when he hears a faint sound coming from Jaehyun. If it weren’t for the room being dead silent, Taeyong would have missed it.

“Jaehyun?” he asks, glancing to see if the younger boy is awake. Jaehyun’s eyes are still closed. A couple of moments of silence pass, and Taeyong shrugs it off and wonders if he is just hearing things, maybe the hectic schedules and red-eye flights getting to him lately, when Jaehyun whimpers again.

Taeyong gets out of bed and moves to sit down at the empty space beside Jaehyun on his mattress. He realizes that the other boy is sweating, and when he reaches down to pat his back his t-shirt is damp and his muscles are tense. His eyes are squeezed shut and he’s gripping the sheets so hard Taeyong thinks they’ll rip.

Jaehyun’s having a nightmare.

“Jaehyun,” Taeyong says softly, gently shaking him. “Jaehyunnie. It’s me, please wake up.”

He does, with a jolt. His eyes fly open and he looks up at Taeyong in confusion, tears beginning to prick his eyes. “Taeyong hyung,” he croaks. Jaehyun leans in and buries his face in Taeyong’s neck, seeking his warmth. Taeyong can feel the other shaking.

“Hey, it’s okay, you're going to be okay, it was just a dream,” Taeyong soothes him, his hand carding through Jaehyun’s hair, down his back, rubbing in circles. He can feel Jaehyun’s hands fisting his shirt tightly.

They stay like this for a while, just the two of them breathing in the silent hotel room. Taeyong doesn't know if he should ask what Jaehyun dreamt about, so he keeps silent, wraps his arms around Jaehyun’s trembling frame tighter.

The younger’s breathing slowly evens out, but he still doesn’t let go of Taeyong.

“I’m sorry I woke you up like this.”

Taeyong laughs softly. “Don’t apologize, I wasn’t even asleep anyway.” Even like this, Jaehyun is so selfless, he thinks. He’s worried, he just wants him to be okay, and sleep is quite possibly the last thing on his mind right now.

After a few minutes, when he thinks Jaehyun has calmed down enough, Taeyong makes a move to pull away, but Jaehyun doesn’t let him go, his strong arms around Taeyong’s waist trapping him in position. He shifts just enough to look at Jaehyun’s face.

The younger looks sheepish. “Um, I just- I can’t really go back to sleep,” Jaehyun whispers, cheeks pink.

Taeyong blinks, not understanding what the other is trying to get at, until it clicks inside his head. Jaehyun wants him to  _stay_.

“Okay,” he says, pulling the covers over the both of them and making them comfortable.

“Want to listen to some music? It helps me sleep a lot of the time,” Taeyong suggests. He grabs his phone and earphones from his bed, scrolls through his usual classical music playlist, and plugs in an earbud into Jaehyun’s ear and the other into his own.

Jaehyun lets out a sigh as his eyes flutter closed. “Thank you hyung.”

Taeyong’s hand finds Jaehyun’s and he gives it a gentle squeeze. “No problem, Jaehyunnie.”  _Anything for you_ , he sort of wants to add.

With their arms still tangled loosely around each other, Jaehyun and Taeyong make small talk for a while in the darkness. When Taeyong asks something and doesn’t get a response from the other boy, he glances over and sees Jaehyun sleeping soundly, mouth ajar in the cutest way.

Jaehyun really does look younger in his sleep, his soft, now khaki-coloured bangs covering his forehead and eyes. Taeyong feels weirdly nostalgic, the feeling twisting in his stomach as he remembers the days when Jaehyun used to be a fresh-faced and emotional teenager who relied on his hyungs all the time. He smiles at the memory, brushes the bangs away, and presses his lips to Jaehyun’s forehead.

 

No matter how much Jaehyun has grown, and how hard he tries to show that he has matured and can take care of Taeyong and the others, he can tell that there are days where Jaehyun needs someone too. For someone to be there for him when he falls too.

In the morning, Taeyong knows that Jaehyun will put his walls back up. He will go back to being the dependable one, his usual foolproof self. But for now, as the last notes of the music play out and he feels sleep beckoning, Taeyong hopes that this will be enough.

**Author's Note:**

> this is completely self-indulgent lmao i lost it when taeyong said he misses rookies jaehyun because so do i.  
> 


End file.
